Friday, 4 September 2015

August 2015 current affairs free pdf download

Monthly Current Affairs Capsule-August 2015

Here we are sharing important current affairs of August 2015 which will be useful in upcoming exams.After reading you can download complete August 2015 current affairs pdf from the link given at the end.

August1

Beijing was chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in a secret ballot held at a convention centre in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on 31 July 2015.Beijing became the first city in Olympic history to be awarded both summer and winter Games.Beijing had hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008.

Paytm on 30 July 2015 acquired the title sponsorship rights for India’s domestic and international cricket matches at home from the BCCI for a period of four years with a bid price of Rs 203.28 crore.

Kotak Bharat:Mobile banking app launched by KMB(Kotak Mahindra Bank) that is primarily targetted to benefit customers in the under-banked and un-banked regions.

Volkswagen (Germany) replaced Japanese auto giant Toyota to emerge as the world’s largest-selling vehicle maker in the first half of 2015.

Tamil Nadu government instituted youth award in name of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.Tamil Nadu government also announced that Dr Kalam’s birthday on October 15th would be celebrated as the Youth Revival Day.

India and Bangladesh started the process of swapping border enclaves to settle the stateless people.In this historic event, the two countries transferred 162 enclaves.There were 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India which were exchanged according to Land Boundary Agreement of 1974.

Union Govt. to infuse Rs. 70,000 crore into PSBs(public sector banks) over a period of four years as announced by the Finance Ministry.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia recently proposed to work together to create a joint Arab military force with the objective of ensuring stability in the region

S K Roy:New chairman of LIC

Kochi naval harbour (Kerala) became the first in the country to get the Integrated Underwater Harbour Defence and Surveillance System (IUHDSS), an automated system capable of detecting, identifying, tracking and generating warning for surface and underwater threats

August3

Pakistan became the first-ever non-European member of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, known as CERN .

South Sudan became the latest and the 206th member of theOlympic family after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved its inclusion.

August4

Union Govt. and the Naga rebels led by the National Socialist Council of Nagalim-IM (NSCN-IM) signed a path-breaking peace treaty.The treaty was signed by Thuingaleng Muivah, General Secretary of the NSCN-IM in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The treaty is expected to bring under control the decades-old insurgency problem in the North-East.

Union Govt. stepped back from the controversy surrounding the draft Indian Financial Code (IFC).It seeks to dilute the RBI’s powers to regulate the foreign exchange and government bond markets and set monetary policy.

President Pranab Mukherjee on 4 August 2015 inaugurated Navachara Kaksh the science and innovation museum in Rashtrapati Bhavan campus,

August6

70th anniversary of the dropping of first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima is being observed on 6 August 2015.Atomic bomb named Little Boy by the US Air Force, wiped out the city of Hiroshima.

In an accident involving two trains Kamayani Express (Between Mumbai and Varanasi) and Janata Express(between Rajendra Nagar and Mumbai) killedat least 29 passengers and injured more than 300.Accident took place at Harda district of MP.

Tirumala Venkateshwara Temple or Tirupati Balaji Temple (Andhra Pradesh) came to news recently for opening up a Demat account to accept donations from devotees in the form of shares and securities

August7

Egypt unveiled a new addition to the iconic Suez Canal .This new waterway thus became the third on the Suez Canal, which acts as the fastest link between Asia and Europe.Suez Canal connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Malaysian Government confirmed that a piece of a wing that washed up on Reunion Island beach (Indian Ocean) last week was part of the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which had mysteriously disappeared during March 2014.

August8

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first National Handloom Day on 7th August 2015 at Chennai.It was on 7 August in 1905 that the formal proclamation of the Swadeshi Movement was made at a massive meeting in Calcutta.

As per the recently released India State of Forest Report-2013 total forest cover in India stood at 21.23%.

The Union Govt. is expected to showcase an emergency response system (ERS) .This system will have similar or better capabilities than the ‘911’ emergency response system being used in the United States.Proposed Emergency Number is 112.

North Korean government announced that it will establish its own time zone from 15 August by pulling back its current standard time by 30 minutes. Currently, local time in both Koreas and Japan are same and was set when the then single Korea was under Japanese colonial rule.

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) started investing in equities as an asset class for the first-ever-time.

NIYATAM(NITI Initiative to Yield Aspirational Targets and Actionable Means):The NITI Aayog has started an initiative to engage the states of the Indian Union on six important issues pertaining to governance and finance. This includes the initiative to prune their administrative structure to improve their efficiency and governance.NIYATAM is the name given to this initiative.

Year-long birth centenary of which famous Hindi writer, playwright and actor Bhisham Sahni was initiated on 8 August 2015.His famous works-Tamas ,Mayyadas Ki Madi etc..

August10

Singapore observed 50th anniversary of its independence on 9 August 2015.

Suraksha Bandhan:In view of the forthcoming festival of Raksha Bandhan, a special enrolment drive "Suraksha Bandhan" is being launched by participating banks and insurance companies in the months of August-September for enrolling bank account holders in Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY).

Global electronic manufacturing giant Foxconn, known for manufacturing iPhones for Apple Inc.,signed agreement with Maharashtra state government for investing over US$ 5 billion over the next five years.

Indian-American diplomat Atul Keshap was recently confirmed as the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives.

August11

India-born Sundar Pichai will be the CEO of Google as Google becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of the newly announced holding company Alphabet.

Union Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad launched “Disha”- a mobile app which facilitates easy learning of computers and Internet.It is a free mobile app that has been prepared to spread digital literacy through self-learning modules.

“School Nursery Yojana” (SNY) was launched by Union Environment Minister (Independent Charge) Prakash Javdekar. The underlying theme of the “School Nursery Yojana” is to plant a tree for sustainable future and to make the nation clean and green. Under the Yojana, students will sow the seeds and grow saplings in the school nursery.

August12

Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi announced its first manufacturing unit in India at Sri City (Andhra Pradesh).

China’s currency Yuan’s value was devalued to its lowest rate against the US dollar in almost three years by China’s central bank(The People’s Bank of China ) ,to make Yuan’s exchange rate more market-oriented and make Chinese exports cheaper.

Indian Govt. signed a $ 308.40 million finance agreement with the World Bank for National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project-II (NCRMP-II)

August13

As Rupee’s value slid to almost 23-month low RBI intervened by selling US dollars through PSU banks.Asian countries witnessed decline after China’s central bank allowed the Yuan to drop .

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) fully commissioned and started commercial production of its indigenous titanium sponge plant at Chavara (Kerala). With the commissioning of this plant, India has become the seventh country in the world producing titanium sponge commercially. Titanium sponge is used primarily for space and defence applications.

August14

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) paid a dividend of nearly Rs. 66,000 crore to the government. This was the highest ever dividend paid by the RBI in its 80-year history.

Union Government on 14 August 2015 announced appointment of two executives from the private sector to head public sector banks (PSU banks).Two executives appointed are PS Jayakumar (Bank of Baroda) and Rakesh Sharma (Canara Bank).

As part of the new Bancassurance guidelines, the IRDA allowed banks to tie up with a maximum of nine insurers from three segments- life, non–life and standalone health insurers.

Senior advocate Arun P Sathe, the elder brother of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, was recently appointed on the Board of market regulator SEBI. Eyebrows were raised due to political nature of this appointment.

The 7-pronged strategy rolled out to comprehensively revamp the functioning of PSU banks in the country has been named as “Indradhanush” (rainbow).It includes streamlining of appointments, setting up of a Bank Board Bureau (BBB) to scout for heads of PSBs, recapitalisation measures and facilitating easing of non-performing assets (NPAs) to help ensure improved credit.

August16

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a new campaign “Start-up India, Stand up India” during his Independence Day Address.According to the PM, the initiative will encourage entrepreneurship among the youth of India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address to the nation on 15 August 2015 announced new name of Agriculture Ministry–‘Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Ministry’

August17

Abhishek Verma clinched gold for India at Archery World Cup.

World Badminton Championship: Saina became 1st Indian shuttler to a win silver medal.She lost the women's singles summit clash to Spain's Carolina Marin 16-21, 19-21 in Jakarta.

Ajit Kumar Seth appointed as Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board.Seth succeeded Atul Chaturvedi, who has completed his tenure. Prior to this appointment, Seth completed his extended tenure of four years at the Cabinet secretariat in June 2015.

Andy Murray won Rogers Cup Masters tournament.In the title clash, Murray defeated world number one Novak Djokovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

India, Bangladesh signed MoU to tackle the menace of fake Indian currency notes.The MoU was signed during a maiden meeting of the Joint Task Force on Fake Currency Notes (JTFFC) in Dhaka.

August18

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 August 2015 visited Masdar city of UAE which is world’s first zero-carbon and car-free smart city.Masdar City relies completely on solar energy and other renewable sources of energy.

IndiGo airlines signed a $26.55 billion order for purchasing 250 aircrafts from Europe’s Airbus company.

ICICI Bank launched locker facility named Smart Vault .The Smart Vault uses robotic technology to access the lockers from the safe vault and enables customers to conveniently access their lockers at any time of their preference.

Kerala Government signed MoU with Adani Group for development of Vizhinjam Port.Vizhinjam seaport project is the Kerala government ambitious project which was initiated 25 years ago in 1991 to build a deepest and natural draft port near Kovalam beach in Thiruvananthapuram.

28-year old Anirban Lahiri scaled a new high for Indian golf by becoming the first from the country to finish inside the top-five of a Major as he ended the prestigious PGA Championships at Wisconsin (USA) at fifth place. His tied at fifth place .

According to an analysis done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).Tamil Nadu was the leading State in employment generation in the country, generating as much as 15.2% of country’s manufacturing sector jobs during 2012-13.

President Pranab Mukherjee’s wife and India’s First Lady Suvra Mukherjee passed away on 18 August 2015. She was a highly talented vocalist, painter and writer.

A book named The Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral Megacity authored by Tarun Khanna released by Akhilesh yadav.

Allahabad HC directed government servants, politicians to send children to government schools.

Kishor Piraji Kharat appointed as MD and CEO of IDBI Bank.

Aditi Chauhan became India's first woman to play in English league football .She made her debut for the women’s team of the West Ham United in the opening game of the season against Coventry City.

August20

Sebastian Coe (Britain) was selected as the new President of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), the global governing body for athletics.Sebastian Coe is the former 1500 m Olympic champion from Britain.

Adille Sumariwalla, an Olympian 100m runner and President of the athletics Federation of India (AFI), was elected as one of the nine individual members of the all-powerful IAAF Council at the IAAF’s 50th Congress held at Beijing. He thus became the first-ever elected member for IAAF Council from India.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) launched two new funds primarily for small entrepreneurs and start-ups.India Aspiration Fund (IAF) and SIDBI Make In India Loan For Enterprises (SMILE).

Ranil Wickremesinghe's UNP(United National Party) has emerged as the single largest party with 106 seats in the 225-member legislature of srilankan parliamentary.Rajapaksa, who was president of Sri Lanka for over nine years till January this year, was the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA)’s prime ministerial candidate for the election.

Kerala Government inaugurated a 12 MW solar power project at Cochin International Airport.With this project, Cochin airport became the first airport in India to run on solar power.

August21

“Vidya Lakshmi” portal was launched on the occasion of 69thIndependence Day. It is the first of its kind portal providing single window for students to access information and make applications for educational loans provided by banks and also government scholarships.

Ashwani Lohani:New chief of Air India.

Actor-turned-writer Twinkle Khanna launched her first book ‘Mrs Funnybones’. The book is a commentary on society and trends.

2nd edition of the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) Summit, which witnessed participation of the heads of states of 14 Pacific island nations, was held in Jaipur.

India removed Iran from the list of countries put under the restricted visa category.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras submitted his resignation.He is seeking to crush a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party and seal public support for the bailout program that he had negotiated with European leaders.

The fair price shops in Rajasthan will now be run under the name ‘Annapurna Bhandar Yojna’ in which Kishore Biyani-led Future Consumer Enterprise will assist the state government

The hotline between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama was established recently.India became the fourth country after Russia, Great Britain and China to have a hotline (direct secure line of communication) with the US President.

August23

Privately owned Bandhan Bank had recently received its universal banking licence a year after getting a provisional licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in April last year along with IDFC.Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the bank at a ceremony held at Kolkata’s Science City Auditorium. Bandhan Bank started its operations with a bang with 501 branches spread across 22 states in the country.

Usain Bolt of Jamaica retained the 100m and 200m title at IAAF World Championships at Beijing’s Nest Stadium on 23 August 2015.He defeated Justin Gatlin (US) in both the events.

U Mumba franchisee won the STAR Sports ProKabaddi League’s second season as they defeated Bengaluru Bulls (Bengaluru) team in the finals by 36-30

As a consequence of the slowing Chinese economy and the devalued Chinese currency Yuan ,major financial markets of the world, including India, witnessed a huge decline on 24 August 2015. The BSE Sensex closed the day at 25,741.56, down 1,624.51 points.

The birth centenary celebration of Rani Gaidinliu was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 August 2015. On this occasion a commemorative coin was released to recall Rani’s contribution to India’s freedom struggle. Rani Gaidinliu (1915-1993) was a prominent political leader of Nagaland who led a famous revolt against the British.

Union Govt. divested 10% of its stake in Indian Oil Corporation.

Nanded (Karnataka) bound Bangalore-Nanded express train met with a freak accident in the early hours of 24 August near Madakasira village of Anantpur district in Andhra Pradesh when a truck carrying a granite boulder, weighing several tonnes, rammed into the train after its brakes failed,killing six people.The 6 dead included Venkatesh Naik, the legislator from Devadurga Assembly constituency of Raichur district in Karnataka.

Madhya Pradesh’s Energy Minister Rajendra Shukla announced that the world’s largest solar power station of 750 Mega Watts (MW) capacity will be established in state’s Rewa district.

Golfer Aditi Ashok became first Indian to win the Ladies British Amateur Golf championship 17-year-old Aditi is not only the first Indian to take the title, but also the youngest-ever winner of the tournament.

Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara retired from International Cricket .He played his last match against India as part of three match test series held in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

August25

Jains held nationwide protests against ban on Santhara by Rajasthan High Court.It is a religious practice of facing death voluntarily at the end of one's life.

Union Government released Postal stamp on Ashoka.

India, Australia signed MoU on cooperation in fields of education, training and research.The MoU was signed during the meeting of the Australia-India Education Council (AIEC) in New Delhi.

Union Government launched 'Sehat' to provide healthcare facilities in rural areas.Under the initiative people will be able to consult doctors through video link and also order generic drugs.

AP Government and Tata Trust signed MoU to develop villages of Vijayawada parliamentary constituency.This is the first of its kind initiative taken up by the Tata Trust for developing all villages in a single parliamentary constituency.

Indian Army inaugurated Jaisalmer War Museum and Laungewala War Memorial.To commemorate Battle of Laungewala, a War Memorial was constructed and inaugurated at the very site where the Pakistani offensive was blunted.

Rajasthan Government approved Arogya Rajasthan campaign.During this three-month campaign, health data of residents will be collected and compiled. The residents would be issued health cards based on spot diagnoses.

BRIDGE programme of Australia extended to include Navodaya Schools.The Australia-India BRIDGE school partnerships project, which is currently confined to private schools, will connect Australian and Indian schools and focus on building teacher capability.

Union Govt. released the religious census data of 2011.

– Total population of the country stood at 121.09 crore in 2011

– Hindus constitute 79.8% (96.63 crore) of the population

– Muslims constitute 14.2% (17.22 crore) of the population

– Christians constitute 2.3% (2.78 crore) of the population

– Sikhs constitute 1.7%% (2.08 crore) of the population

– Buddhists constitute 0.7% (0.84 crore) of the population

– Jains constitute 0.4% (0.45 crore) of the population

– The proportion of Hindu population to total population declined by 0.7 percentage point (PP)

– The proportion of Muslim population to total population increased by 0.8 PP

– The share of Hindus in the population has slipped below 80% for the first time

– Muslims are the only community to register a growth in their share of the population

– The growth rate of Muslims is the highest at 24.6%. Hindus follow with a 16.8 per cent growth rate; Christians come next with 15.5 per cent. The growth rates of Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains are less than 10 per cent.

– However, the rate of increase for Muslim community has reduced from the previous decade, when the Muslim share in the population had increased by 1.73%

– Christians are the only community (among major religions) in India that has more women members than men.

PayU India tied-up with redBus to attract customers to use its wallet PayU Money.This tie-up is expected to increase the wallet customers from the current 5 million users to 20 million by 2015 end.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 27 August 2015 successfully placed communication satellite n GSAT-6 in orbit through GSLV D-6 rocket.GSAT-6 will provide S-band communication services in the country. It is aimed at primarily benefiting the country’s strategic users and other specific authorised users.

Union Govt. announced the list of 98 cities and towns selected under Smart Cities Mission. Uttar Pradesh has been allocated highest number of 13 cities in this coveted list. Tamil Nadu has been allocated 12 cities, followed by 10 from Maharashtra and 7 from Madhya Pradesh. Centre has earmarked Rs. 48,000 crore for development of 100 smart cities

ICICI Bank launched country’s first-ever mortgage guarantee-backed home loan named “Extraa Home Loan". This home loan product allows consumers to increase borrowing by 5-20% and the tenure up to 67 years of age. Typically, banks do not allow home loan tenures beyond 60 years of age.

August28

Ping:Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart o launched a new tool called Ping that blends social-networking with shopping so as to make online shopping a more social affair.

Reliance Communications Ltd tied up with Jasper to offer Internet of Things services in India.IoT refers to a network of internet connected devices which are embedded with electronic sensors and data transmitting technologies.

For the first time in the history of weightlifting, an individual international tournament will be organised in India. The country will host the Commonwealth Youth, Junior and Senior Weightlifting Championships. This championship will be held in Pune

kerala celebrates "Onam".Onam celebrated by Keralites without any boundaries of caste or religion.

Tripura decided to implement National Food Security Act.Implementation of the Act will benefit over 25 lakh people from more than six lakh families of the state.

August29

50th anniversary of the 1965 war with Pakistan was observed on 28 August 2015 with the country paying rich tributes to the brave soldiers of the Indian Union. Exactly 50 years back, on 28 August 1965, India had captured strategically important pass Haji Pir pass (J&K) from Pakistan.

Aurangzeb Road, one of Delhi’s most elite addresses, will be renamed after Dr.A P J Abdul Kalam.

August30

Union Govt. notified the complete structure of the NITI Aayog.

NITI Aayog would have three key wings called the Team India Hub, the Knowledge and Innovation Hub and the Flexi Pool. The said three wing will be under the Chief Executive of NITI Aayog.

National Sports Day celebrated on 29 August

Sania Mirza was conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.Sania Mirza became the second tennis player after Leander Paes to win the award.

Supermoon:-on 29 August 2015,lunar enthusiasts from all over the world witnessed Supermoon."Supermoon" is used to describe a new or full moon that coincides with the moon reaching its closest point to Earth on its orbit.

Indian women’s hockey team created history as it made its return to the Olympics after a long gap of 36 years. This became possible as it qualified for next year’s Rio (Brazil) Olympics .Indian women’s hockey team qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics.